


Untitled

by MastigosAtLarge



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ableism, Deaf or Hard of Hearing Character, Gen, Harassment, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22001977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MastigosAtLarge/pseuds/MastigosAtLarge
Summary: Jeannie takes her son Otto grocery shopping.  She doesn't ever know what to do about how some people don't seem to think she "looks deaf".
Kudos: 3





	Untitled

Jeannie hummed a tune and stopped the cart in place, standing on her tip-toes to grab a bottle of Jiffy’s some stocker had placed on the second to top shelf. Otto sat strapped into the movable car seat the grandparents had given them, bundled in layers upon layers to protect him from the late March blizzard that had swept through DC and the rest of the mid-Atlantic. Jeannie placed the bottle into her cart, catching a disappointing glare from a man down the way. He wore a black tailored suit and an expensive tie, and silver cuff-links held his sleeves by the wrist.

She brought her humming down and moved a fist in a circle over her heart.

_Sorry_. Jeannie smiled and held up an out-facing palm. She shrugged, and waved at the man.

He shook his head angrily and snapped something at her, but he spoke too quickly for her to read his lips.

Jeannie signed quickly. _I can’t hear_. “Say it again and look right at me,” she asked. He scowled at her accent.

“What. Is. Wrong. With. You,” the man sounded out, advancing on her.

Jeannie stepped in front of her son, shaking her head. It took a moment for her to start signing again, but the man spoke over her.

“Your baby is crying,” he shot, cheeks red with self-righteous anger.

She turned, unstrapping Otto and bouncing him up and down. She rubbed his back and shushed him, turning to look back at the man. He still glared indignantly.

“Why are you a parent,” he asked, though Jeannie only caught some of it. She turned her back to the man and held Otto to her chest. Her son turned along her breast and Jeannie held him in place, pushing the cart to the side of the aisle with her free hand.

Otto pulled at her sleeve. His eyes welled, and looking down, Jeannie saw his mouth opening and closing as he shrieked. She wiped his eyes and pulled up her shirt, helping her son latch on to feed. He smiled against her and moved a hand to rest next to his cheek, petting her abdomen. His father’s eyes caught hers, and Jeannie held them, smiling back.

She turned at a tap on her shoulder. The butcher nodded, holding up the center-cut of beef that she had requested. Jeannie nodded her head to the cart and the butcher placed it inside.

_Thank you_ , Jeannie signed, and the butcher nodded and waved.

In the corner, she saw another woman lambasting the man who had noticed Otto’s cries. Jeannie made a point to read no one’s lips. Otto unlatched and Jeannie burped him. She strapped him back in and grabbed some blackberry jam before she pushed her son to the next aisle.


End file.
